Well-seal extractor



March 7, 1967 c, MARTlN 3,307,632

WELL-SEAL EXTRACTOR Filed April 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 46 J Jy- W I I 46 4-7 48 1,

I F [(5. 2C 32 32 INVENTOR.

CARLYLE J. MART IN BY I0 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,307,632 WELL-SEALv EXTRACTOR Carlyle J. Martin, Pierce Creek Road, Binghamton, N.Y. 13903 Filed Apr. 27, 1964, Ser. No. 362,584 11 Claims. (Cl. 166-85) This invention relates to apparatus for extracting well seals which have become stuck in Well casings. Tightly fitted well seals are very necessary in modern Water well installations to prevent contamination by surface water and to prevent freezing from surface air. Such seals must be removed, however, in order to repair or replace submersible pumps or jets or to replace pipes inside the well. Because of the weight of perhaps several hundred feet of pipe hung from a well seal down inside a well casing, it 'has been a rather diificult and clumsy task to extract well seals shortly after they have been installed, but after a seal has been installed for months or years, such seals become so tightly stuck to the well casing-that removal of the seal has in some instances been practically impossible, and at best extremely time-consuming. Thus it is a primary object of the present invention to provide apparatus which will enable one to remove well seals quickly and easily no matter how tightly they are stuck to well casings.

Well casings commonly terminate several feet below the ground to avoid freezing, and well seals are attached at the top of well casings. When well pipes or submersible pumps are to be repaired or replaced, it is necessary to excavate for several feet to uncover the well seal. To minimize excavation, both because of its cost, and sometimes to avoid damage to lawns, and for similar reasons, it is usually desirable to dig as small a hole as possible near the top of the casing, and thus very little working room is provided for removal of the well seal. It is another object of the invention to provide a well seal extractor which requires little space in which to operate.

Because well casings vary in size, and because pipes passing through well seals are arranged in varied configurations, it is a further object of the invention to provide seal-extracting apparatus which may be readily converted to extract seals of plural desired diameters, and under conditions where many different piping arrangements are used.

Another object of the invention is to provide a well seal extractor which may be quickly assembled and disassembled, and which can be packed in a small space when disassembled.

A further object of the invention is to provide a well seal extractor which is simple and economical to construct, and which is simple and easy to operate.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one form of the invention showing the extractor mounted atop a well casing in position to extract a well seal;

FIG. 2a is a plan view of a typical well seal with a portion of the seal shown cutaway;

FIG. 2b is a sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 2a;

FIG. 20 is an exploded view of the well seal of FIGS. 2a and 2b showing the individual parts of the well seal;

3,307,632 Patented Mar. '7, 1967 FIG. 3a is a plan view of the extractor of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3b is a section view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 3a, with the extractor shown mounted in operative position atop a well casing;

FIG. 4a is a plan view taken along lines 44 of FIG. 3b with those portions of the well seal and easing shown in FIG. 3b omitted from FIG. 4a for sake of clarity;

FIG. 4b is an elevation view of the hinged sleeve apparatus of FIG. 4a, also showing the relation of such apparatus to the well casing;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a portion of the invention useful in understanding one feature of operation of the invention, and

FIG. 6 is an elevation view illustrating a modified form of the invention.

Referring now to the typical well seal installation shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, well casing 10 comprises one or more coupled sections of iron pipe, typically of 4 to 6 inches inside diameter, although larger diameters are also fairly common. Well casing 10 usually consists of plural coupled sections of pipe which may extend down into the earth as much as several hundred feet, and the top of well casing 10 is usually located three or four feet below ground surface. Shown in FIG. 2a extending down inside casing 10 are smaller pipes 11 and 12. Where a submersible electric pump is used, pipe 11 will extend all of the way down casing 10 to the pump (not shown) to carry water upward from the pump, and pipe 12 may carry an electric cable (not shown) to supply power to the pump motor. In such an installation pipe 12 commonly will terminate a few feet below Well seal 13, and the electrical cable will hang downward therefrom. In those installations where a jet pump is used, pipes 11 and 12 will both extend all the way down the well casing, with one pipe supplying pressure to the jet and the other pipe carrying water upwardly.

The top of casing 10 is conventionally located several feet below ground surface both in order that extensions from pipes 11 and 12 may be located below the frost line, and to avoid the creation of obstructions above the ground surface. Pipes 11 and 12 conventionally pass through well seal 13, and elbows 14 and 15 then redirect the pipes generally horizontally, underground, to a dwelling or the like. Because the top of well casing 10 is underground, and because it is extremely important that surface water not enter casing 10 and run down inside and contaminate the well, it is necessary that a tight seal be provided at the top of casing 10. It is also necessary that outside air near ground surface not enter the well casing in order that the well not freeze. To avoid creation of a vacuum in the well, an outlet to atmosphere must be provided, and hence a breather pipe 9 (FIG. 2a) is provided. Breather pipe 9 is connected via elbow 9' to a further pipe (not shown) which runs underground to a source of clean warm air, frequently the utility room of the dwelling served by the well system.

The conventional well seal (shown in FIGS. 2a-c and FIG. 3b) comprises four semi-cylindrical plates 17, 18, 19 and 20 (as best seen in FIG. 20) between which a thick rubber gasket 21 is bolted. Upper plates 17 and 18 are provided with peripheral flanges 17, 18' which rest on the end of casing 10 and support the considerable weight of the pipes and other equipment within casing 10. Four bolts 22, 22 pass through holes in upper plates 17 and 18 cooperating holes 22a, 22a in rubber gasket 21 and thread into threaded holes 23, 23 in lower semi-cylindrical plates 19 and 20. Each of the semi-cylindrical plates is provided with two semi-circular recesses, those of upper plates 17 and 18 meeting to form circular holes, and those of lower plates 19 and 20 functioning similarly, to admit pipes 11 and 12. To install the seal, bolts 22, 22 are drawn up tightly with the seal and pipes in the position shown in FIG. 2a. Plates 17-20 tightly compress gasket 21, forcing it outwardly to form a water-tight and airtight seal around the inside of casing 10, and forcing it inwardly around pipes 11 and 12 to seal them similarly. Very great pressures are applied to the gasket to insure effective sealing. Upper plate 17 is provided with a threaded hole 24a (FIG. 20) to accommodate a nipple or elbow for breather pipe 9, and cooperating holes 24b and 240 are provided in gasket 21 and lower plate 19, respectively, thereby admitting warm air inside casing as water is pumped from the well.

Because of the great pressures necessarly applied to gasket 21, to provide an effective seal, the rubber gasket 21 tends to stick very tightly to the inside of the well casing and to pipes 11 and 12. When a submersible pump or jet, or the pipes 11, 12 inside casing 10, must be repaired or replaced, the seal, of course, must be removed. In order to remove the seal, all four bolts 22, 22 are first loosened. To insure that lower plates 19 and do not drop down into casing 10, one must be certain not to remove the bolts completely, and to prevent such complete removal, cotter pins or wire loops, such as those shown at 25 (FIG. 3b), are commonly provided at the ends of the bolts 22, 22 to prevent accidental complete removal of the bolts.

With bolts 22, 22 backed off some distance, a screwdriver, or small crowbar or like tool may be wedged between the flange portions of upper plates 17 and 18 and the end of casing 10, and upper plates 17 and 18 then may be pried loose. The loosening of the upper plates of the seal usually is readily accomplished. Because of the great pressures applied to gasket 21, and perhaps due to physical changes occurring in the gasket after long usage, the rubber tends to become tightly welded to the inside of well casing 10 (and to pipes 11 and 12) however, and it has been extremely diflicult and time-consuming to break such gaskets loose.

Prying with a tool between the flanges of the upper plates 17, 18 and the end of casing 10 allows one to apply forces to the gasket via bolts 22 and lower plates 19, 20, but it has been extremely difficult to break the gaskets loose in such a manner. Because the gasket is ru bber, it tends to absorb shock forces without loosening. Further, the considerable mass of the suspended pipes 11 and 12 usually makes it diflicult to apply suflicient shock force to break the gasket loose. Some seals become stuck so tightly that many hours have been required to remove them.

In FIG. 1 bolts 22 have been hacked off and the top section of the seal, i.e., upper plates 17 and 18, have been loosened and raised slightly. The extractor of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 then may be put in the position shown in FIG. 1. The invention will be seen to include a split sleeve having two portions 300 and 30b, preferably hinged together as shown at 30c. Each portion of sleeve 30 is provided with one or more inwardly extending flange portions 32, 32 which are adapted to bear down on the upper end of casing 10 (See FIG. 3b) to prevent sleeve 30 from sliding down casing 10. Sleeve 30 is placed around the top of the well casing, 10 with the flanges 32, 32 resting on the top of the casing, and then pin 33 is placed in latch means 34 to prevent the split sleeve from opening as the seal is extracted. As shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b, the two sections 30a and 30b may be latched together by means of pin 33, which passes through latch means 34 shown as comprising holes in tabes 33a and 330 mounted on half-sleeve 30b and through a cooperating hole in tab 33b mounted on half-sleeve 300. As better seen in FIG. 1, the two hole halves (30a and 30b) may be hinged by bolt 390, which passes through plural tabs on the two half sleeves (30a and 30b).

Sleeve 30 is provided with rigidly attached means 31, 31 shown as comprising two sockets 31, 31 for receiving and supporting a pair of removable upwardly extending rods 35, 36. As best seen in FIG. 4b, the lower ends of rods 35 and 36 are shown turned down to fit slidingly into sockets 31, 31. Cross bar 37 is supported atop rods 35, 36 and is shown as comprising a length of box section having holes drilled in it to accommodate the upper ends of rods 35 and 36. As best seen in FIG. 3b, the upper ends of rods 35 and 36 have a reduced diameter, as shown at 35a, and pass through cooperating holes in the upper 37a and lower 37b portions of cross bar 37. A plurality of spaced holes (as exemplified by holes 35a-35f in FIG. 3a) may be provided in bar 37 to accommodate different spacings between rods 35, 36 to allow seal extraction from different diameter casings. cross bar 37 also carries a bearing surface (FIG. 3b) shown as comprising plate 38, which includes a hollowed seat 39 adapted to receive the end of threaded eye-bolt 40.

An upper plate member 42 carries a centrally disposed threaded hub 44 through which threaded eye-bolt 40 passes. Four arm members 46, 47, 48 and 49 are pivotally suspended from upper plate 42, in a manner 'best shown in FIG. 3b. Each of the arm members is provided with an inwardly projecting hook end or flange 50 on its lower end, and in order to extract the seal, each of the hook ends or flanges 5t 50 of the arm members is inserted under the flange portion of one half or the other (17 or 18) of the upper section of the seal. bodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1-5, four arms (46-49) are provided and they preferably are spaced degrees apart around the periphery of the seal. Bearing plate 38 is shown provided with four guide slots 52 (FIG. 3a) adapted to admit arms 46-49 and to facilitate 90 degree distribution of the arm hook ends around the seal. It will be apparent that a different number of arm members may be provided, with a different spacing. As best seen in FIG. 4a, spaces 32b, 32b are shown provided between the flanges 32, 32 of the split sleeve 30 to accommodate the lower ends of arms 46-49.

When eye-bolt 40 is rotated and advances through upper plate 42, the lower end of bolt 40 (which may be provided with a ball bearing as shown in FIG. 3b) forces plates 42 and 38 apart, so that arms 46-49, their flanged ends 50 and the seal are pulled upwardly with respect to split sleeve 30, its flanges 32 and the casing, thereby pulling the top section of the seal upwardly relative to casing 10. Since the lower section (plates 19, 20) of the seal is attached to the upper section by bolts 22, the lower section of the seal and the intermediate gasket will be pulled out of casing 10. Inasmuch as the use of the screw thread provides a tremendous mechanical advantage, only a modest amount of force is necessary to rotate eye-bolt 40 in order to raise a tightly-stuck seal having many hundreds of feet of pipe suspended from it. Eye-bolt 40-may be rotated by means of a wrench or screwdriver or the like, or by means of any lever passed through the eye of the eye-bolt.

As best shown in FIG. 5, the upper ends of arms 46-49 are shown pivotally attached to upper plate 42 by means of pins 54 extending downwardly from horizontal portions 55 of the arms through slightly oversize holes in upper plate 42. If desired, the lower ends of pins 54 may be threaded and provided with nuts as in FIG. 3b (or alternatively provided with through cotter pins as shown in FIG. 5) to hold arms 46-49 loosely on plate 42 if it is not deemed desirable to completely dismantle the extractor after each seal is extracted.

A further advantageous feature of the invention is an automatic leveling feature which may be understood most readily by reference to FIG. 5. It will be seen in FIG. 5 that when mutually oppositely-disposed arms 46 and 48 both extend straight downwardly, their horizontally extending upper portions 55, 55 do not lie flatly on upper plate 42, but that instead the lower edges of portions 55, 55 are canted upwardly, as indicated by the angle at on arm 48 in FIG. 5. Thus arms 46 and 48 tend to bear against plate 42 at points (x and y), and the use of oversize holes in plate 42 for pins 54, 54 thus allows plate 42 to rock or tilt slightly. Such an arrangement allows the In the specific emasa -33a invention to apply forces properly to a seal being extracted even when one side of a seal is stuck while the other side is loose, and also to properly pull seals in which the weight of the pipes acts considerably away from the center of the seal, i.e. the casing axis.

It will be clear from FIG. 5 that plate 42 and eye-bolt 40 are capable of tilting or rocking slightly with respect to plate 38. If plate 42 were to tilt slightly clockwise as viewed in FIG. 5, it will be seen that the lifting force applied by plate 42 to arm 46 will be applied at point 2 rather than at point x, and it should be noted that point z is located at a different radial or lever arm distance from eye-bolt 40. From a balance of forces it will be seen that the lifting force applied to arm 46 multiplied by the lever arm distance between point 1 must equal the lifting force applied to arm 48 times the lever arm distance to point y, and thus that such tilting of plate 42 automatically applies a greater force to a stuck side of a seal than to loose side. And further, the action shown allows one to extract seals in which the suspended weight on the seal acts considerably off-center, which is the condition usually encountered. In the typical seal installation shown in FIG. 2a' it will be seen that the entire weight of the pipes and submersible pump (not shown) suspended within casing acts between elbow 14 and top members 17 and 18 of the seal, and that pipe 11 and elbow 14 are necessarily off-center with respect to the seal and axis of casing 10. It will also be clear from FIG. 5 that the upward forces applied to portions 55, 55 of arms 46 and 48 will tend to urge the lower ends of arms 46 and 48 radially inwardly, so that their hook ends tend to stay inserted in slots 321: (FIG. 4a) and under the flanges 17, 18 of the well seal cover pieces 17 and 18 when force is applied to extract the seal.

It will be seen that removal of the seal involves basically the provision of a force between flanges 50, 50 on arms 46-49 and flanges 32, 32 on the split sleeve, with the force acting upwardly on flanges 50, 50 and downwardly on flanges 32, 32. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5, arms 46-49 are attached to support means (plate 42) mounted above the bearing surface on plate 38 which the rods 35, 36 attach to split sleeve 30, and the jack screw 40, applies the required forces to extract the seal by driving plates 38 and 42 away from each other. In the modified form of the invention shown in FIG. 6, the support plate 42' carrying arms 46'49 is mounted below the support plate 38 attached to the split collar, and jack screw 40' applies the proper forces to extract the seal by drawing members 38' and 42' together as the screw is turned. In this embodiment a threaded hub or nut to accommodate screw 40 is provided on cross-piece 38'. The lower end of screw 40 passes through an unthreaded hole in plate 42'. One or more washers such as 43, and a pair of locknuts 44' are provided on the lower end of screw 40'. support member42' are lifted, pulling the seal loose from casing 10.

It will be seen that the invention is easily assembled and disassembled, with rods 35 and 36 merely slipping readily into collars 31,- 31 and into appropriate holes in crossbar 37. A plurality of different diameter hinged collars may be provided in order to extract seals of widely varying diameters, Those skilled in the art will recognize that if the hinged collar is provided with plural hinges around its periphery, a single collar may be used on several different diameters of casings. It will be noted that none of the parts of the invention are diflicult or expensive to construct, but to the contrary, may be fabricated easily from readily available stock.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efliciently attained, and since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all As screw 40 is turned anti-clockwise bolt 40' and 6 matter contained or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

I claim:

1. Apparatus for extracting a well seal having a flanged cover section from a well casing, comprising, in combination: a split collar having a pair of members adapted to surround the end of said well casing, each of said mem-' bers having an inwardly-extending flange portion adapted to bear against the end of said well casing, a frame supported upon said split collar and extending away from said casing, said frame having a bearing surface portion; a member having a threaded portion mounted above said frame; a threaded shaft threaded through said member and extending to said bearing surface portion of said frame and a plurality of arms attached to said member and extending toward the end of said casing, each of said arms having an inwardly-extending hook portion adapted to engage said flanged cover section of said well seal.

2. Apparatus for extracting a well seal from a well casing, comprising, in'combination: a first member having a threaded portion; a second member having a bearing surface portion; a jack screw engaging said threaded portion and adapted to bear against said bearing surface portion, whereby advancement of said jack screw operates to move said members away from each other; a plurality of arms attached to said first member and extending past said second member, each of said arms having an inwardlyextending hook portion adapted to engage a flanged portion of a well seal; and adjustable support means extending from said second member to bear against said well casing, said support means being adjustable to different radial distances from said jack screw to accommodate different sizes of well casing.

3. Apparatus for extracting a well seal from a well casing, comprising, in combination: a first group of flange means comprising a split sleeve having a flange surface adapted to bear downwardly against the end of said well casing; a second group of flange means adapted to bear upwardly against a portion of said well seal; a first support member having a threaded portion; a second support member having a bearing surface portion; a rotatable jack screw means operable to move one of said support members relative to the other of said support members; first attachment means attaching said first group of flange means to one of said support members; and second attachment means attaching said second group of flange means to the other one of said support members.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which said first group of flange means comprises a split sleeve adapted to surround the end of said casing and having a plurality of inwardly extending flanges, and in which said second group of flange means comprises a plurality of arm members extending generally parallel to the axis of said casing and having inwardly extending flanges.

5. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which said rotatable jack screw means is adapted upon advancement to urge said support members apart, in which said first attachment means attaches said first group of flange means to said second support means, and in which said second attachment means attaches said second group of flange means to said first support means.

6. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which said rotatable jack screw means is adapted upon advancement to urge said support members toward each other, in which said first attachment means attaches said first group of flange means to said first support means, and in which said second attachment means attaches said second group of flange means to said second support means.

7. Apparatus for extracting a well seal having a flanged cover section from a well casing, comprising, in combination: a first member having a plurality of flange portions adapted to bear against the end of said well casing; a frame means supported on said first member; a second member; a plurality of arm members pivotally attached to said second member, each of said arm members having a flange portion adapted to engage said cover section of said well seal; and means for applying a force between said frame means and said second member in a direction to move said flange portions of said arm members away from said flange portions of said first member.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which said means for applying said force comprises a jack screw means threaded through said second member and adapted to engage a portion of said frame means.

9. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which said second member comprises a circular plate, in which said means for applying said force comprises a jack screw threaded through the center of said circular plate and adapted to bear against a portion of said frame means, and in which said arm members are pivotally suspended from said circular plate at positions equally spaced about said jack screw.

10. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which said frame means includes a plurality of guide slots through which said arm members pass.

11. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which said sec- 0nd member comprises a plate member, in which said means for applying saidforce comprises screw means passing through said plate means, and in which said arm members are shaped to engage said plate member at different radial distances from said screw means as said arm members pivot with respect with said plate member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,517,870 8/1950 Gum-p l6685 2,628,820 2/1953 Sheak 16-685 2,689,611 9/1954 Martinson 16685 2,697,273 12/1954 Clarke et al. 29261 2,834,100 5/1958 Harsh 29261 2,902,751 9/ 1959 Somme'r 292-61 2,953,846 9/1960 Wagner 2926l 3,103,740 9/1963 Crenshaw 29-261 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,078,959 3/1960 Germany.

CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Examiner.

J. A. LEPPINK, Assistant Examiner. 

2. APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING A WELL SEAL FROM A WELL CASING, COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: A FIRST MEMBER HAVING A THREADED PORTION; A SECOND MEMBER HAVING A BEARING SURFACE PORTION; A JACK SCREW ENGAGING SAID THREADED PORTION AND ADAPTED TO BEAR AGAINST SAID BEARING SURFACE PORTION, WHEREBY ADVANCEMENT OF SAID JACK SCREW OPERATES TO MOVE SAID MEMBERS AWAY FROM EACH OTHER; A PLURALITY OF ARMS ATTACHED TO SAID FIRST MEMBER AND EXTENDING PAST SAID SECOND MEMBER, EACH OF SAID ARMS HAVING AN INWARDLYEXTENDING HOOK PORTION ADAPTED TO ENGAGE A FLANGED PORTION OF A WELL SEAL; AND ADJUSTABLESUPPORT MEANS EXTENDING FROM SAID SECOND MEMBER TO BEAR AGAINST SAID WELL CASING, SAID SUPPORT MEANS BEING ADJUSTABLE TO DIFFERENT RADIAL DISTANCES FROM SAID JACK SCREW TO ACCOMMODATE DIFFERENT SIZES OF WELL CASING. 